Thursday, April 7, 2011

Extreme Couponing??

Okay, so I just had to take a second to write about Extreme Couponing. Have you seen this or heard of it? It's a new series on TLC that first aired back in December. A whopping 2.1 million viewers tuned in to see the show's premiere (It's no wonder with everyone struggling in today's economy. We all want to save money)! I just now saw my first episode. I'm not sure if I'm appalled or addicted.

Here's my take: I'm intrigued. We started to really watch our budget once I started my maternity leave back in November. So, I started to shop at places like Target and Trader Joe's more regularly than my local grocery store. Before I go on a shopping trip, I usually try take a look at that week's ad, see what's on sale (that I need), and form my weekly menus based on what's fresh and available. Add a few coupons on top of that, and I'm feeling like I'm being pretty smart about how we shop. We usually save around 30% off the retail prices.

Extreme Couponers put my 30% to shame!! This new reality show documents women who spend HOURS preparing for their store runs in order to BIG money. Oh, but it comes at a price. Dumpster diving to get more coupons (seriously?), knocking on neighbor's doors to ask for their coupons, endless hours of research, printing out internet coupons. The list goes on and on. The result of all this hard work? They basically get their groceries FREE.

There's a catch though (as if dumpster diving wasn't bad enough): you have to "stockpile." This is where they lose me. These women have year's worth of supplies and take pride in it. Things that they could NEVER go through are piled and stored high all over their house....closets, garages, under the kid's beds! I mean, how can one go through 50 CASES of toothpaste? Why on earth would I want that--even if it's free?

I would love nothing more than to save money on my grocery bill. Fresh produce and dairy are outrageously expensive right now. But is it worth ALL this?

6 comments:

Oh man! I wanted to see the show but haven't yet. Dumpster diving?! Ewwwwh no. I really love Target and Trader Joes and find myself shopping there more and more looking to save a buck. I hear good things about Fresh and Easy and they almost always have a $5 off coupon every week.

About "saving" so much money on wasted stuff.... I once heard a saying "if you had to drive 50 miles to where there was $50 waiting for you, would you go?". I wouldn't. You'd spend more time and gas money and at the end of it you wouldn't be more rich. Your TIME is worth something too. Just a thought.

You said it yourself Candace, FRESH produce and DAIRY are expensive and that is not what these coupons are for. I think couponing is crap lol. Even the small amount of time it to go out of my way to go to a store i wouldn't normally go to is stupid in my book. I flip through target's coupons and very rarely use them, only if it is something I actually needed that month. Same goes for Costco. Trader Joe's doesn't use coupons and those are the only places I shop. I have friends in Indian who literally post how they are so proud they got 12 liters of Ensure for for 30 cents and I am like "YUCK and you are going to pay for medical bills as a consequence!" So there you have it. Thats my opinion and I know it is not a very important one LOL!!!

I tend to agree that couponing is not usually worth the effort. Most coupons in the newspaper are for processed foods that I don't really want to serve my family anyway. Once in a while my local grocery store will send out coupons for free things...then I am all over it.

Okay so I watched that show and was so intrigued!! I must say after seeing it though it is something I would never do. If you notice most people who stock pile aren't eating healthy in the slightest because EVERYTHING they buy has preservatives which allow them to stockpile a years worth of stuff. To be fully honest, I would rather spend more money on fresh foods and not go out to eat (cut back on those types of activities) then do what they do with their groceries!

I love that show! We don't have cable anymore (one way that we're saving money) but I was intrigued too. I've started looking around for coupons and have been somewhat successful, the only thing I don't like is that I have to drive to a bunch of different stores just to get the deals. Bah!- Leanne @ healthful pursuit